Birth Of A Star
by tresemellon
Summary: Time-Travel AU! Ginny Weasley has only ever seen the faces of those who took part in the Second Wizarding War in textbooks. Faced with the threat of the Enigma Rise, she is sent back in time to fix the past, leaving everything she knows behind. But now she wants everything she knows to be everything he knows. IMPORTANT: In this AU, Ron is the youngest of his family.
1. Rude Awakening

**A/N: So this has been a little plot bunny of mine for quite a while now. This is also quite possibly the longest chapter I have ever written in my life. I'm actually quite proud of myself to be honest. And I hope more than anything you all like it!**

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She was lying there in the common room on the couch, stretching as the first morning rays peeked through the gap of the curtains, illuminating all it came into contact with. A few strands of her hair got caught by the light, exaggerating the intensity of the red hues. She took a glance up at the clock and came to the conclusion that once again she had fallen asleep while studying for her History of Magic test Professor Picoult had decided to spring on them for that day less than twenty-four hours before hand. Today's topics were dealing with the Wizarding Wars as today was the centenary of the Second Wizarding War's end. And Ginny felt like she was the only student in her class that was actually pretty excited about the topic.

After the fall of Voldemort, the wizarding world had calmed down significantly. The tensions that had been enveloped into the daily lives of so many had disintegrated the second Voldemort's body fell against the stoned ground. Although many liked to argue the fact that the Dark Lord did not die as Voldemort, but instead, he died no more than as Tom Riddle. A mere mortal of a man. She had been given the same "pep talk", as her cousin Rose - who felt more like a grandma to her than a cousin due to the enormous age gap - liked to call it, that in your last moments you are either going the be the strongest you will ever be, or the weakest, and it all depends on the way you have lived your life. This was advice passed down from her mother, who apparently had been at the centre of the action with her husband.

Ginny took the opportunity since nobody was up to hop into the bathroom in an attempt to make herself somewhat presentable for the day. She liked to start off her day with a shower, never cold, never hot. She felt like it washed off the events of the previous day and that the present was a fresh start. Her friends sometimes gave out to her for her hippy-dippy, over-exaggerated positive ways but for Ginny it was the only way she could build up the courage to face the day. Begrudgingly pulling on her robes as she fought the tiredness being expressed by the forceful, involuntary shutting of her eyelids, she deemed herself ready to go and walked down to the Great Hall.

As she entered, she noted that the Hall was pretty barren, and then remembered that it was only eight in the morning and that most students should be downstairs within the half hour. She did not mind the solitude though. Well, it was not pure solitude. There was a scattering of different students from different houses around the room. She had been told stories by her grandparents and uncles that once-upon-a-time, students were required to sit only with their houses during meal times and school assemblies. She herself could not imagine a time when that was the case. Obviously people tended to sit with people in their own house at least at the beginning because they are the people that at those moments they would be most familiar and acquainted with. But as their time in Hogwarts progressed, many mingled with other students. Ginny always sat in the exact same place every day, a quarter of the way from the teachers' podium at the "Gryffindor" table, or what used to be the Gryffindor table.

About quarter-past the hour, she eyed a group of people heading her way. Her tiredness in the mornings always blurred her initial vision of things but her eyes soon cleared her lenses as her friends came into clear view. They took their regular positions around their table.

"Morning, Gin," the blonde at her side chirped up. Without even needing to glance at the girl you had know who she was by the perky voice. Amber Lee, a Ravenclaw girl in her year. Undoubtedly one of the smartest girls ever to step foot into the magnificent castle they resided in. At the same time, she was also undoubtedly one of the dumbest girls ever to step foot into the magnificent castle they resided in. Academically, she was fabulous, except in History of Magic - in that class she was just a walking tragedy -, but god forbid she ever stepped foot into a large social situation.

"Hey," Ginny replied. She rubbed her eyes and downed a glass of water. "I may not look it, but I'm actually super pumped for this test today."

"No, I definitely think you are the embodiment of enthusiasm right now, Gin. Nothing screams ready for the day like eye bags and toothpaste on the cheek," a slim boy who sat across from her said, laughing at her instead of with her.

A flush of pink spread across her features and she quickly moistened her thumb and tried to rub the dried substance from her face. "You really know how to charm a girl, don't you, Zach."

Zach just laughed his usual deep chuckle. Whenever he laughed he looked like he was in one of those advertisements that claimed to make your hair so seductively beautiful that no witch or wizard would be able to keep their hands off. His black hair fell gracefully behind him as he cocked his head backwards with laughter. If it was anybody else, Ginny would have made the comment about his hair looking like awful bed-head, but for some reason, neatness just clashed horribly with Zach. The same could be said for the rest of the female population in the school. Zach's rugged, boyish charm managed to sneak its way into the good books of everybody.

"I do try," he said, shrugging.

"How can you even be excited for this test, Ginny. I can't for the life of me remember the significance of anything to do with this war, or anything about the people involved. How am I supposed to get three parchments full of this crap. I'm up to my eyes with information, I'm about to explode."

Ginny cocked her head to Sam. Sam was always worrying about something. How she got into Gryffindor troubled almost everybody. Ginny piped up, "So long as you don't explode over the walls of the classroom. Picoult would kill you otherwise."

"Gee thanks for the confidence boost, Gin," Sam laughed.

"Sure, she's great at boosting confidence. Just last week she spent about two hours correcting almost everything about me. Didn't make me feel like a fool at all," Jonathon remarked, giving a friendly wink to Ginny.

"I'm just talented at it, what can I say?" Ginny laughed.

The group stayed chatting away, piling plates of food into their mouths, and cramming (well some of them) for the upcoming test until five to nine. This test was to be the decider of what their overall score was going to be for History of Magic. The one test that mattered for her summer report. A mutual decision was made to leave the Great Hall and head to the classroom. On arrival, they assumed their regular seats and saw the parchment lying on the tables.

Everybody else groaned and moaned as soon as Picoult announced the objectives of the test. Three pages of parchment on the events of the Second Wizarding War with reference to two of the following in detail: Voldemort and the rise of the Death Eaters, the preparations of the Order and Dumbledore's Army, the key figures Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, and Severus Snape. Ginny's heart fluttered. She knew she had this in the bag. The Second Wizarding War was a story that was being passed down in her family now over the generations. From what she gathered, she had family at the heart of the battle, and nothing filled her with more glee to know that. She felt like she had somewhat of an advantage over some of the other kids, the muggleborns in particular, but she knew that some of the other sixth years in the room were in the same position as her also.

Ginny breezed through the exam and handed it up with twenty minutes to spare. Good, she thought to herself, at least I know that if the rest of the day gets screwed up that I have something good under my sleeve. She leaned back on her stool and eyed the rest of the people in the room. Amber, she noticed, was freaking out. Her face was going purple. Ginny assumed it was because she was forgetting to breathe again. Whenever Amber was stressed out about a situation, all her thought went into the situation. So much so that her body even forgets to take part in involuntary actions. Zach and Jonathon were sat at the same table. They took sly glances at the other one's paper every few minutes. And Sam was sat in front of those two. She was definitely her competition for securing the highest grade in the class. If she wanted to finish the class with distinction she had to get the overall highest mark in this test.

There was a loud knocking at the door and it opened. Without even taking a glance back she knew who it was because their enormous shadow was creeping its way across the ground.

"Headmaster," began Picoult, "To what do we owe the honour?"

Professor Misiano peeked his head into the room slightly. "I'm looking for a student. Is Ginevra Weasley in here?"

Picoult motioned to her and Ginny stood.

"May I take her for the remainder of the class?"

Ginny gathered her things and left the room. At least I managed to finish my exam, she thought. She followed Misiano up the many, many flights of stairs contained within the castle until they reached a podium with a golden bird. Misiano muttered a few words and the podium began to turn around 180 degrees and they both stepped inside. They were elevated into the large room where Professor Misiano spent most of his time. There was portraits of previous headmasters of Hogwarts plastered around the room, in order of their reign. One in particular caught her eye; the one of Albus Dumbledore locked eyes with her and gave her a smirk. She waved back and proceeded to the chair opposite Misiano's desk that the headmaster was gesturing to.

"Please, Miss Weasley, take a seat."

She sat.

"As you know, today marks the centenary of the Second Wizarding War, correct?" He didn't wait to see if she knew the information or not as he just continued anyway. "Today we should be celebrating the independence of our people. But I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Today is quite possibly one of the most dangerous days of our time. Today is the day that the Enigmas are planning their rise."

"May I ask, who are the Enigmas?"

"The Enigmas are admirers of the policies and actions of the Death Eaters of the 1900's. Obviously unhappy with the fall of Voldemort, they're planning retaliation. Tonight."

"With all due respect, Headmaster, what has this got to do with me?"

"It's your ancestors that anger them. The family of Molly and Arthur Weasley. They had a son called Ron, I believe. It was his friend Harry Potter that conducted the death of Voldemort. The rage the Enigmas are feeling is primarily from the fact that their Lord was defeated by nothing more than a teenager. They've made a vow to wipe out the family. And that's where it involves you. You are part of the package deal. You're in grave danger."

Ginny could not mask the confusion. She didn't understand what was going on, even with her knowledge of all the events. "And so, I must die?"

"Not must. Not must at all, my dear. You're the Chosen One of our generation. My Chosen One." Misiano smiled. He stood up and held a golden necklace in his hand. "This device is called a Time Turner. It turns time. It will transport you to any time period your heart desires."

"What must I do?"

"I'm sending you back to the year 1997, with a note for the headmaster, which you must hand in on arrival. You'll start in the academic year with the seventh years. There's no point in repeating now, is there."

Ginny stared at the man dumbfounded. "Are you being serious?"

"Deadly so."

Ginny arose. "What is it that I have to do when I'm in 1997?"

"You have to ensure that Voldemort does not die because of Harry Potter. Potter must not be the one to cause the death of the Dark Lord." Misiano stated this very bluntly.

Ginny thought this to be a pretty easy task. She could not imagine how stopping somebody from killing somebody else would be a difficult thing to do. "I'll do it."

"You don't really have a choice, Miss Weasley." Misiano smirked. He wrapped the necklace around her neck and twisted it a for what seemed to be an entire century.

"When you arrive, hide this Time Turner. It's your only way of getting back to your own time. Be sensible, not reckless. Don't be bashful. Blend in. And under no circumstances are you to alter history more than this. This is bad enough, but it will be a complete disaster if more than this is changed. Your existence could be compromised," he warned, as she disappeared from his view. "Good luck, Ginevra. You'll find that your bags will be in your room on arrival."

The world around Ginny was a real blur this time, due to the quick rewinding of time instead of the intense fatigue she was feeling a couple of hours ago. As she passed through time, many different people passed her. She didn't know how they didn't see her but she assumed since she was just glued to the spot and travelling at such a fast pace that there'd be no chance of anybody ever spotting her. After a couple of minutes she found that the world had stopped being a blur and she had somehow found herself at the doors of the Great Hall.

Everything looked the exact same. She heard a booming voice coming from the Great Hall welcoming the students to the school, and she heard the date September 1st 1997 mentioned. She looked around her. There was absolutely nothing to indicate that she was now over one hundred years in the past. And then he remembered the letter crumpled up into the hand given to her only a few minutes ago by Professor Misiano and she ran towards the booming voice, opening the doors to the Great Hall with such force that a tremendous echo bounced through the room as all eyes became planted on her. She quickly regretted her quick movements.

She glanced at the teachers first and saw several faces she had only ever seen in textbooks. The Carrows were of the first she noticed and she felt a chill being sent up her spine. And then she locked eyes with the man up on the main podium. Professor Severus Snape. She moved her way up the middle of the room, gripping the note in hand. She squirmed past the crowd of first years who were stood tensely before the teachers and student body. When she reached the podium she handed it over to him.

"For your eyes only," she whispered, making sure nobody else heard her.

After reading the note, he looked up at her in awe. "Very well," he spoke. "We'll deal with you first then."

She gulped as she was instructed to turn around.

"Miss Ginevra Weasley, everybody, has transferred to our school for her last academic year. She will reside in House Slytherin."

Nobody cheered. People just stared at her. She was not quite sure what to do next. Snape directed her to the table on the far left and she took the only free seat at that moment. She caught sight of silver in the corner of her eye and then directed her attention to the podium, the teachers, the speech, and the meal, until they were all directed to head to their respective common rooms. It was at that moment that she knew that she had gotten herself into a mess.

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 **A/N Please read and review.**


	2. First Impressions

**A/N I'm incredibly proud of myself for getting this up ten days after the first part. I'm trying very hard to be consistent with my writing. I'm happy with how this is going so far, I hope you guys are too. Without further ado, here's chapter two.**

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The following morning she rose abruptly with water on her head. She peeled her eyes awake and stared up at the blonde girl who was holding a small now-empty bucket. A smug expression was drawn across her face as she tossed her golden locks backwards behind her shoulder, and she giggled. Ginny glared at the girl; she had never been the type of person to let somebody walk all over her, and she was most definitely not going to stop now.

"Oh look, funny you," she remarked. "You know how to fill up a bloody bucket, I bet your parents are very proud."

"Oh they would be if they knew that I messed with a filthy blood-traitor."

Ginny's tough exterior momentarily broke as confusion stepped in. Blood-traitor? She didn't understand, but she decided not to ask the blonde what she meant in case she was met with ridicule. She sat up, stretching slightly, and shuffled the the edge of the bed. She pulled a pair of socks over her feet. She was now face-to-face with the other girl, who she noticed had now backed away slightly as she had found herself to be a few inches shorter than she realised than the redhead.

"Never thought one of your kind would step one of your dirty feet inside of the Slytherin common room."

"And what would my kind be?" Ginny inquired, furrowing her brow.

"A pathetic Weasley."

And in that moment everything Ginny had known crumbled beneath her feet. Everything she had been told about her family and the Battle of Hogwarts had then, in the moment, disintegrated into a pile of ashes on the ground. She had been taught that the Weasleys had always been a very well-respected family, but they didn't let their blood status dictate their social interactions like other families did, and for that many of the Wizarding World enjoyed their company. Stories were passed down in her family of the bravery of the Weasley men and woman (as she had been told there was only one Weasley female in the war) during the Second Wizarding War, and how they helped to take down the Dark Lord himself. And suddenly she felt her importance falter, her candle of pride had been blown out. But, of course, she wasn't going to let that be known to the other girl.

"Don't flatter yourself, dear. I really couldn't care less what you think because at the end of the day, at least I'm not a petty bitch like you," Ginny whispered.

She shoved her way past the blonde and headed into the bathroom, where she was met with slight, not-so-discrete staring from the women inside. She didn't get the same cruel aura off of them as she had with her previous encounter, yet she didn't sense anything friendly about them either. She thought it best not to interact with them, she didn't want a repeat of earlier or any conflict between her and her house. She walked into the cubicle, towel in hand, and turned on the shower. She let the warm water rush over her body, washing away any negativity that may have been lingering on her body. Her hair was noticeably dirty. She reckoned this was due to her long journey yesterday, and she scrubbed at the scalp with the soap that resided on the shelf within the cubicle. Once her hair was sufficiently clean, she began to rinse her body of any soap. She turned to face the shower head and let the water race down her face. She changed the temperature to make the water a bit colder; she felt like the needed something cool on her face to help wake her up and shake off the nerves.

After fifteen minutes, Ginny re-emerged from the cubicle, a green towel wrapped around her body in an attempt to maintain her modesty around the strangers. She walked over to the sink, gave her teeth a brush, and began to walk back to her dorm. Thankfully, nobody was in there anymore, and she felt more relaxed. She sighed deeply and began to dry herself. She donned her new robes and uniform - she noticed that the colour of the gorgeous emerald green contrasted beautifully with the deep charcoal.

Ginny picked up her wand off of her bedside table and performed a spell which dried off her hair. Sam had been the one to teach her that spell after she had a freak out shortly before heading out on a date to Hogsmeade with Zach during her second year at school. There had been a brief period of time where Ginny and Zach had a mild infatuation with each other when they were thirteen years old. Looking back on it made Ginny cringe, partly due to how young they were, and partly due to how close they were four years on. The date had been wonderful however, she noted. Zach had been quite the charmer from day one. She remembered that they went to a restaurant that just opened selling French cuisine; Zach knew her very well, Ginny was obsessed with trying foreign food. Following the dinner that consisted of a lot of awkward small talk, they found themselves able to relax after stumbling upon a joke store. She proudly pointed out the Weasley name imprinted on the sign swinging outside the door. 'My ancestors set this shop up,' she told him.

Once inside they became speechless. The store was filled top to bottom with wonderful widgets, curious candies, and terrific tricks. Ginny came across a tin containing sweets that claimed to cause horrific acne on whoever ate one. She chuckled and thought about all the damage she could do with them, before placing them back on the shelf and skipping back towards her date, who was holding a stuffed animal. 'It's a pygmy puff,' he told her. 'Cute like you.' And so she left the store with a brand new pygmy puff stuffed toy, courtesy of Zach, and a beaming grin across her face. She planted a kiss on his cheek once outside, and when she pulled away, she felt herself being pulled back towards him gently. His hands cupped her freckled cheeks and their lips met briefly.

She smiled awkwardly. 'This doesn't feel right,' she said. He nodded in agreement. They both laughed and made their way back to the castle, where, once she told the story to her girlfriends, she was met with pillows flying at her face and disappointed yelling. She placed the pygmy puff on the bed covers and sat with Sam and Amber on the floor of the Gryffindor common room.

Ginny's heart ached slightly at the memories. She had only been in 1997 for less than a day, and she was already feeling to toll that being over one hundred years in the past was taking on her. She missed the familiarity. She missed her family, her friends, the teachers, the atmosphere. It was settling in, and it was far too real for her liking. She pushed her hair back out of her face, picked up her books and wand for her first class, Potions, and left the safety of her dormitory.

"Oh, look. Here comes the blood-traitor," a voice sniggered.

Ginny turned to the direction of the noise and saw the same blonde girl from before. "You know, I'd swear you were obsessed with me already with the way you're carrying on."

Ginny could have sworn she heard a scoff and 'as if', but she didn't care. She left the Slytherin common room and headed down the hall. _The advantage of being down in the dungeons,_ she thought, _is the fact that the Potions classroom is so close._ It took her just under five minutes to walk from the entrance of the common room to the classroom door. She shoved open the heavy door and stumbled into the classroom. The room was only about half open and yet she still felt like the entire world was staring at her.

"Ah, Miss Weasley," Snape remarked. "I'm assigning you to seat number twenty-seven. I'm sure that is okay."

"Thank you, sir," she replied. She felt nervous when he spoke. His eyes seemed to stare right through her, as if she wasn't even there. And yet she could feel them burning on her pale skin. She could definitely tell he was an interesting character.

Ginny assumed her seat against the wall on the left hand side of the room. A couple of minutes later, she caught sight out of the corner of her eye of the same silver colour she had seen the previous evening in the great hall. But this time, the silver was more enhanced, and definitely in a larger quantity than before. She turned slightly to the right to see a slim boy, no more than a year older than her she assumed, with the beautiful platinum coloured hair she had been seeing.

"You're my partner?" he inquired.

Ginny nodded. "I'm assuming so. I'm Ginevra. You can call me Ginny if you'd like."

"Ginevra is fine. I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

He extended a hand and she took it. They shook three times before releasing.

"Ugh, how nauseating."

Ginny turned around the see the blonde from before staring down at her, quickly glancing at Draco every few moments. Ginny could see anger residing in her eyes and she sighed.

"What is it now?"

"I bet you had to beg to sit next to Draco, didn't you?"

"Actually, no. I don't even know him. One might say you're jealous?"

Before the blonde could talk, Draco piped up. "Maria's just jealous that even if she begged, she will never be able to get anybody, or anything while we're at it."

Ginny was glad she now finally had a name to go with the face. It was a pretty name, it was too bad that such a beautiful name didn't match such an ugly personality. She smirked at Maria, who remained speechless. For a brief moment, Ginny noticed a slight sadness seep into Maria's eyes, but it was quickly covered up again with her usual expression of smugness and hatred.

"Bloody hell, Malfoy. You're full of yourself as ever."

"Sure thing, Maria. Now if you don't mind, I'd rather not spend my time being seen speaking to you. Some people actually have standards," Draco smirked. He turned back around to his desk and glanced quickly at Ginny, locking eyes for only a brief moments before he turned his focus to the textbooks in front of him.

"Now class," Snape boomed from the top of the classroom. In one hand he held a cauldron containing numerous ingredients, and the Potions textbook. "Your task today, to warm everybody back up for the new academic year, is to produce a perfect Babbling Beverage."

Ginny grimaced. The Babbling Beverage was one potion that just was not her forte. Draco on the other hand looked absolutely chuffed as he got the equipment out from under their table.

"You ever made one of these before?" Ginny asked.

"I haven't," he replied. "But I know people who have."

"Is it easy?"

"Seemingly so. There was a big prank a couple years ago. People made a large batch of this potion and used it to talk over the loudspeakers in the castle. Boy, did that annoy Umbridge." He laughed slightly.

She recognised the name Umbridge. She wasn't sure whether it was through a textbook or through hearsay. Ginny only knew very limited information on her. She knew she had been the Hogwarts headmaster in 1995, and that she was a member of the Ministry, the same organisation that her family had been working in for years. One thing she'd heard that she didn't know whether it was reliable or not what that she was obsessed with the colour pink, and cats. _What a strange woman,_ she thought.

"Nice," she chuckled.

After half an hour of brewing and chatting, Draco and Ginny had completed their potion. She glanced around the room, eyeing all the pupils in there who were struggling to complete the perfect Babbling Beverage. Some of the boys and girls had incredibly dirty faces, some of them had potions that were green instead of the baby blue colour intended, and some of the people were just not paying any attention.

Draco took out a flask and began to bottle their potion. Ginny had tried to help as much as she could, after all, she loved Potions. She scribbled down their initials on a sticky label and attached it to the side of the flask, once the potion was bottled.

"Professor," Draco said to alert to black-haired man. "Myself and Ginevra are finished. Where shall we leave our potion?"

"In the basket in the back of the room, Mr Malfoy. Thank you."

Draco nodded and stood up. Maria turned to face Ginny from the other side of the classroom. She assumed if looks could kill, she would probably have been dead by then. Draco, a few moments later, re-assumed his position at their table and turned to face Ginny.

"Where are you from?" he asked.

"I'm from Ottery St Catchpole," she replied.

"And how come you're only joining us now?"

She panicked for a split second. She couldn't remember if she had a plan, and if she did, what it was. "I was attending Beauxbatons."

"Interesting."

That word marked the end of their brief conversation as Snape dismissed the class. Ginny gathered her belongings and walked out of the classroom. As far as she knew, she had a free period for the following hour. She breathed a sigh of relief. A free period was exactly what she needed. She hadn't been there a day and already she felt like she was messing it all up.


	3. The Redhead Lies

**A/N I'm trying to hard to update regularly. I know this chapter comes a bit late after the last one I put up; I am sorry for that but I've been really busy lately! I hope you enjoy. I'm going to start writing the next part now.**

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Ginny made her way back to the Slytherin quarters, which was delightfully vacant. It made her heart swell with joy. It wasn't that she didn't want to make friends there, she just didn't know who she could make friends with there. People in this era didn't seem to be incredibly _friendly_ , for lack of a better word. In fact, they all seemed fairly agitated for the majority of the time. A prime example in Ginny's eyes was Maria.

Maria.

 _Surely she has a last name_ , she thought. Ginny didn't particularly care if she did or not, but what she did care about was learning even the slightest of information about her new-found 'nemesis'. She scoffed. She couldn't believe that she had managed to make an enemy so close to the beginning of the school year. She knew that people could be cruel, in particular teenage girls, but she had never expected this. Maria's actions against Ginny didn't really faze, but at the same time Ginny couldn't exactly say she appreciated the gestures. And it was then that she thought back to something Maria had said earlier on.

 _"Oh they would be if they knew I messed with a blood-traitor."_

Ginny tried to put her knowledge of the Wizarding World into action. She recalled great tensions between those of different blood statuses. Briefly she forgot what it was she was trying to figure out, and instead because side-tracked with thoughts of her own time. Her time was one that for the most part was harmonious in nature. Blood lines generally weren't mentioned, it wasn't deemed necessary to discuss it. But even so, she knew that the Weasley family was a pure-blooded family for as far as one could trace.

She decided to leave it for the time being and made her way over to one of the over-sized armchairs next to the fireplace. A dark green blanket draped over the chair, silver embroidery danced its way along the edge of the fabric, standing out greatly against the cream colour of the chair itself. Lowering herself slowly into the seat, she sighed. Having a bit of time to herself was a blessing, she reckoned. Her eyes shut and her nostrils filled with musk.

"What are you really doing here?"

The voice startled her, her eyes quickly re-opened, and suddenly the smell of musk made a lot more sense.

"Should you not be in class?" she asked, her brow furrowing.

"I have a free period now," he replied, shrugging. He took a couple of steps towards her, descending from the spiralled staircase. "You never answered my question, by the way. Or is that the point?"

"What I told you is the truth."

"But you claim to be a Weasley," he said, his curious nature being well reflected in his tone of voice.

Ginny felt confused. "I am a Weasley, that's why I claimed to be one."

Draco smirked at her. "Ah," he began, "I just so happened to do a little bit of research on you - a background check, of sorts. You don't exist according to all wizarding records."

And in that moment, Ginny felt her stomach drop. "Now, that's obviously a mistake. I mean, I'm here aren't I?" Ginny let out a soft giggle.

"That's true. But it's also a bit off that one Weasley leaves the school with another one to come in his place. There isn't a female Weasley."

"And yet again, here I am," she replied.

"That's true."

Ginny could tell that even though silence fell upon the pair that the conversation was far from over; it was just waiting for the right moment to be picked back up again and she wasn't quite sure she was ready for that moment. She locked eyes briefly with the boy for several moments. He had been staring directly at her for the entire conversation and she didn't know whether that was his way of showing interest or if it was just him trying to make her feel uncomfortable. She felt like the latter was most plausible.

Draco, sensing Ginny's new found awkwardness, piped up once again. "How about we go for a walk? Get to know each other better."

Despite wanting to spend her free period in the sweet solitude of the common room, she reluctantly agreed. Besides, she felt like it was more of a statement than a question. It would be rude of her to decline. The two of them left the Slytherin base and made their way through the endless corridors in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence like the one you'd find yourself in with somebody you disliked, but it was a nice silence; the type of silence you find yourself in with someone you know and can open up to.

This confused Ginny quite a bit because this was only her second encounter with the blond. She shouldn't feel that comfortable around him but for some reason she did. He had a particular aura surrounding him that made him pleasant for her to be around. But despite this comfort she couldn't help but feel a little bit apprehensive talking to him due to the curious nature he displayed. He seemed to know too much about things he shouldn't and that scared her.

They passed under archways until they reached the main door, which Draco held open for the redhead. She smiled at him and stepped through. The crisp air connected with her skin and her arm hair stood on end, sending chills through her body. She hadn't expected the day to be so cold, but then again, how would she have known when she'd spent the majority of the day so far down in the dungeons? Ginny rubbed her hands together and released a breath of air, fogging up the atmosphere closely in front of her.

"Cold?" Draco sniggered.

"Not at all," she said, smirking at him, "I'm just being a dragon."

"You're just being a dragon?" he questioned.

Ginny replied by breathing again; a white mist enveloped the surroundings.

"Well, I'll be damned," he said, smiling. "So, dragon. Why don't you tell me about this feud with Ahern?"

"Ahern?"

"Maria Ahern. The girl who seems quite adamant to ruin your life now. It's quite funny actually but I'm really curious to know what you did to anger her so quickly."

Ginny sighed. "Honestly, I haven't got a clue, I've been trying to figure that information out myself. I just walked into the school, got sorted, and gained an enemy. Maybe I could teach you a thing or two."

Draco laughed. "I don't think I need your help finding enemies, thank you. I do a good job myself."

"Do tell me more, Mr Malfoy. What do you know about enemies?"

"It would be better if I had something to show you, it's a lot more impressive. But I know for a fact that a lot of Gryffs hate my guts. Potter and his crew," he stared off into the distance. "But, of course, you wouldn't know them. You're new here. And as far as you're concerned, I'm a great guy, ignore what you hear."

The mention of a Malfoy-Gryffindor feud peaked Ginny's interest. "Harry Potter?"

Draco's eyes darted to meet Ginny's. "So, you do know him."

Ginny shrugged. "I suppose."

His brow furrowed. "And how well do you know him."

"He doesn't know I exist," Ginny replied, smiling. "No need to get jealous."

"There's nothing to be jealous of with that twat, he's an idiot, people are just afraid to admit it. Cocky and arrogant. And a coward too, didn't even show up for school this year."

Ginny tensed, trying to let it not be known that she felt anxious. It was then that it suddenly dawned on her why Harry Potter was not in the school. This was around the time he was collecting and destroying horcruxes. Her time was running out quicker than she thought. If she didn't complete her mission, she didn't know if she would ever return her her real life.

She laughed, shoving her unease away. "I'll take your word for it."

"One of his friends is a Weasley you know. One that's actually on record, for your information," he winked. Ginny didn't find it worth her time to continue a discussion about her name. She was foolish to think that no questions would be asked about her being a Weasley.

 _I should have adopted a new name,_ she thought. _Too late now._

"I really don't know what the deal with you is. There's something really interesting about you though, I can tell. Maybe it's the fact you were able to turn the bitch queen against you without even saying anything to her. I admire that in a woman."

"And I admire the fact that you're filling so much of your time with a girl you don't even know."

Draco laughed. "All the other Slytherin girls are boring. None worth my time. It's more fun to wind them up, being honest."

"I'll take that as a compliment then that you think I'm not boring," Ginny scoffed.

They walked around the Hogwarts grounds for a while. Ginny took in the beauty of it all, forgetting all about how cold she was.

"It's nice isn't it," Draco said in a low, hushed voice, as if he was trying to make sure he wasn't heard. "I used to hate it, you know. I was a bratty kid. Obnoxious."

"You haven't changed," Ginny retorted.

"Is my first impression really that bad, Weasley?" he replied, smirking.

"Maybe," she smiled. "Nah, you made a good impression shoving Maria in her place, I think."

"Glad you think so, Ginevra. Maybe that's really why we're both off at this time. Maybe you're just stalking me now, you're obsessed."

"Of course, that's why you were the one who found me, right?" Ginny sighed.

"If I recall correctly, dear, I was already in the dungeons. You wandered in after me."

"And I had the intentions of taking some time out for myself but then you ruined all my plans," she said.

"You could have said no. You're hooked, I can tell."

"Sorry, I don't like my men blond," Ginny whispered.

"What a shame. I happen to like mine fiery."

Ginny assumed he was trying to flirt with her. She found it to be a cute attempt and didn't know whether or not to humour him.

"Oh boy. If you think I'm fiery now you wouldn't wanna see me when things are more heated," she smirked.

"Sorry, Ginevra. I don't sleep on the first date," he winked. "Inside?"

Ginny nodded and followed him back to the door they left through. The warmth immediately hugged her on stepping though the door once again.

"This is a lot nicer now," she said, breathing out a giggle. She took a few steps down the stoned hallway and peered into the Great Hall. She assumed that it was almost time for lunch because house elves scattered themselves around the room, dusting and cleaning tables, and laying out cutlery and chinaware.

"Somebody's eager for food," Draco laughed, walking towards her.

"I'm excited. Never experienced Hogwarts lunch before."

"And what are the lunches at Beauxbatons like?"

"Excuse me?" Ginny said, puzzled.

"Beauxbatons. You know. That school you went to?"

Ginny smiled in sudden realisation. "Oh, right! Yeah, they were good. A lot of variety."

"I'm sure," he winked. "Shall we go in?"

"Are we able to yet? I mean, they're cleaning."

"They're fine with people going in early. Trust me. You made plans with anyone to sit?"

Ginny shook her head.

"So it's sorted then," Draco beamed. "You'll meet Zabini."


	4. The Slytherin Trio

**A/N I have the whole story planned out now and it feels so great knowing exactly where it's going to go! I really hope you all enjoy this chapter :-) As always, any feedback you have for me is so greatly appreciated! Thank you for the amazing response I've had so far for this story; it's made me happier than you could ever imagine!**

 **And so, without further ado, here is chapter four of Birth Of A Star.**

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Ginny wasn't quite sure who, or what, a Zabini was, but Draco seemed pretty eager to introduce her to them, and so she saw no reason as to why she shouldn't. She was led by her companion to the back corner of the Slytherin table. Draco took a seat on the end, and gestured to Ginny to take the seat next to him. He filled their glasses with water and took a sip.

She felt slightly uncomfortable sat in an almost empty Great Hall. She had never seen it so deserted and quiet before. Even when there were only students in the hall doing homework and class-reading, it was less empty than it was right now. She didn't know how she felt about being in such a secluded place with a person she'd had very little contact with before.

An awkwardness fell upon the two, which was something that Ginny despised. In an effort to combat that, she broke the silence.

"So," Ginny began, "Who's Zabini?"

"He's an old friend of mine. I figure that you two will get along well."

"And how would you know that? You barely know me."

"That's true," Draco said. He smirked. "But I do know Zabini. You'll get along, trust me."

Ginny nodded.

"But I will say, Weasley. I know you better than you probably think."

This comment made Ginny feel quite uneasy. She didn't know whether it was to get a rise out of her, whether it was a joke, or whether he was being genuinely serious. She just laughed to get rid of some of her awkwardness and awaited the arrival of Zabini.

Several minutes passed before food began appearing on the table. Lunches were never too busy in Hogwarts. A lot of students always found themselves in detention, and even though it was the beginning of the school term, that day was no exception. It wasn't until ten minutes later that students began flooding into the room, by which point Ginny and Draco were both onto their second plate of food.

A tall, slender boy caught Ginny's attention. She didn't know whether it was his dazzling teeth or his amazing complexion that she was most drawn to, but she knew something about him seemed incredibly inviting. As he approached the table Ginny assumed that this was the Zabini they were waiting for. She extended a smile and a hand for him to take as he took a seat at the table. He grabbed hers and gave it a firm shake.

"Blaise," Draco said, "this is Ginny Weasley. Ginny, this is Blaise Zabini."

"It's very nice to meet you, Ginny," he said.

"Likewise," she replied.

"As always, Draco has found the prettiest girl in the school to befriend."

"You're too sweet."

"He's messing by the way," Draco said awkwardly. "I don't befriend pretty girls. They don't like me."

"I'd beg to differ, Drake," Blaise laughed. He turned his attention back to Ginny. "He attracts all the ladies but he's too chicken to go after any of them."

"Because maybe I'm a picky guy and don't want any of the girls in this school," he mumbled as he picked at the food on his plate. His eagerness for this lunch had seemingly disappeared and Ginny noticed. She didn't know whether or not to make a big deal of this, or pretend that she hadn't noticed the severe change in demeanour. But at that moment he was sulking into his glass of water.

"I'm picky too, mate, don't worry," Blaise said in a feeble attempt to backtrack a bit and shove Draco back into his previous good nature.

"I wouldn't blame you to be honest, guys," Ginny said. "All of the girls I've encountered so far are horrendous. I mean, sure some may be pretty, but they're absolutely arrogant. They're horrible! I don't know how you've put up with them for so long!"

"If you have a problem with arrogance, Weasley, then you've made a mistake associating with our dear friend Malfoy over here," Blaise said, winking.

Ginny laughed. She knew the irony in what she had said, but for some reason the air of arrogance pertaining to Draco didn't bother her. In fact, she hadn't really noticed it until Blaise pointed it out. One of the only really prevalent negative traits she had seen of him so far was his brooding nature, and even that she'd only seen once and that was at that very moment.

"Speaking of you being a Weasley, Weasley," Blaise said. "Draco, isn't it awful funny how we got rid of Ron? I mean, it's a bit odd, isn't it? How one Weasley left only to be replaced by another."

"Yeah, I thought about that, alright," Draco laughed, "but trust me, this one is a lot better than that other one. Perhaps the last name is just unfortunate coincidence."

Ginny was confused. "Excuse me," she muttered, "but I'm not sure what you mean. What are you on about me replacing Ron Weasley."

"Well," Blaise began, "he's been in our year since the very beginning and he just didn't show up for school this year. None of his friends did either. They're off doing god knows what, I really don't care. All I know is that they, along with a vast amount of other students, just didn't show up this year. They're afraid to come to Hogwarts. It just comes down to their own cowardice, I suppose."

"Who are his friends?"

"You're joking, right?" Blaise laughed. "Potter and Granger."

The mentioning of Harry Potter made Ginny's stomach twist violently and she felt like she was going to be sick. She was brought back to the strange reality of her situation and began to formulate a plan in her head. She didn't exactly know what it was that she was going to do, but she knew she had to be ready for anything.

She internally laughed a bit. She was acting as if he was the enemy, even though every text book she had ever read featuring him had praised him as one of the greatest heroes the Wizarding world had ever known, and yet there she was plotting against his actions. She found it a bit odd how she was sent on a mission to re-write history but decided not to give it any more thought.

"Right," Ginny mumbled after a few moments had gone by.

"So," Blaise said, changing the topic. He diverted his attention to the brooding blond. "How did you meet this beauty then?"

"We're paired in Potions. Professor Snape decided it would be a good idea to pair the newbie with his best student. Not that I'm complaining, of course, she's great fun. But dear lord, she's bringing a load of drama with Maria Ahern already and she's been in the school for about a day!"

"That's impressive, Weasley," Blaise said in amazement. "I've never heard of someone pissing off that girl so quickly. She must see you as a threat."

"That's what I was saying!"

Ginny laughed as the boys expressed their bemusement and amazement at the situation between herself and her dorm-mate. She still wasn't quite sure what it was that she did, but she assumed the best thing to do was to ignore it. Besides, it seemed as if she had all the protection she'd need from Blaise and Draco.

"What can I say?" Ginny said, throwing her hair over shoulder, "I'm just amazing."

Blaise was growing an immediate fondness for Ginny. He admired her positive attitude. It made a pleasant change for him to be around someone happier than his best friend who had a severe attitude problem. He shot Ginny a smile.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny could tell that Draco was feeling uncomfortable. She didn't know why he was feeling that way, especially seeing as he had been fine up to this point, but she wanted to help him out.

"You okay, Draco?" she asked.

"What?" Draco replied.

"You just seem a little irked, is all," she explained.

"Oh, I'm fine. Carry on your little chit chat with Zabini," he mumbled.

"Ah, now," Blaise exclaimed, "don't be a little baby. Ginny can be shared between the two of us. No need to be jealous."

"I'm not jealous."

"You're very jealous, Draco," Blaise said. He seemed to enjoy poking fun at his friend, much to Draco's evident annoyance.

"I'm not jealous, Blaise. Sod off."

"Yikes, somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed today."

"I was fine before you showed up," Draco said, smirking.

"There's that smirk you know I love so much," Blaise laughed.

"You two are like a married couple, seriously," Ginny said, joining in with Blaise's laughter.

And soon all three of them had broken out into chuckles. Something Ginny noticed about her companions' happiness was that Draco was a lot more expressive. Peering into his eyes, the grey, cloudiness of his irises reflected all of his emotions. She could tell just how he was feeling through his eyes.

With Blaise, it was harder to tell. She just judged off of the beaming smile written on his face that he was happy, but with Draco she could feel it. His new-found glee was radiating next to her and she found that she was put under the Malfoy-happiness spell also.

"Draco, your laughter is contagious," she mumbled.

"Is it that bad?" he asked, and his eyes changed to hurt.

"Oh, no, not at all! I was just thinking how your mood is kind of rubbing off on me. It's weird."

"That's great. So now if I'm sad, I have somebody to be sad with me. Good luck, Zabini," Draco said, shooting a wink at the boy sat opposite him.

Blaise stuck out his tongue in displeasure. "Shove off, Malfoy, you cocky prat."

"Cockiness is what I'm best at, Zabini, and you know it. I wear it well."

"Nobody wears cockiness well, mate, are you daft?"

"Maybe a little bit," Draco replied, taking a sip from his glass.

Soon lunch was over, and the new Slytherin trio found themselves feeling quite full. Blaise was alone for his free period, but Draco and Ginny found themselves stuck in classes for the next few hours. They said their goodbyes to Blaise.

"So," Draco said, "what do you think of Zabini?"

"Charming guy. You two seem like polar opposites though."

"How so?"

"Well," Ginny began, "you're so moody and brooding, whereas he seems to practically live, sleep, and eat happiness. But there is an upside to that for you!"

"Oh, pray. Do tell."

"With you, your happiness seems more genuine. And I appreciate it a lot more because I doubt it's something that I'm going to see a lot."

"It's more like a once in a blue moon sort of thing, Ginny. I never really have anything to be happy about, and dear old Blaise knows that. I like him because he doesn't judge me, and he doesn't try to pry into my life."

Ginny cocked her head to the side. "Hypocrite."

"Excuse me?" Draco replied, taken aback.

"Just this morning you were prying into my life! You did research on me."

"That's different. You're new."

"So?"

"So I want to get to know the new girl, is that such a crime?" he said, smirking. She could tell that that was his 'signature' thing.

"I mean, you could have just talked to me."

"Is that not what we're doing right now, Weasley?"

"I suppose so. Shut up," she said, quickening her walking pace.

"Ah, you're just moody because you know that I'm right," he laughed.

"Right about what?"

"Just right about whatever is going on in your head," he said.

Ginny rolled her eyes, and shot daggers at him.

"Feisty, aren't we?"

"I assume that's how you like your girls," she replied.

"You seem to know me very well for somebody who I've only just met."

"I think I probably know you better than you think. I'd love for you to get to know me better."

"I think that's a good idea," he replied.

"And maybe you shall. I'd like that. See you, Malfoy."

She didn't know why she was trying to flirt with him. She didn't know where she had found the courage to try to flirt with him. But she did and he didn't seem to mind. In fact, a smug smile spread across his face. She didn't give him a chance to reply as she turned on her heels and sped to her next class. She felt a little bit embarrassed yet at the same time she couldn't help but feel a little bit more confident around the boy.

 **. . .**

By the end of the day, Ginny found herself feeling absolutely exhausted. The tiredness radiated through her body, and she was fighting an internal struggle to stay awake. By the time she made it to her dormitory, she only managed to get changed out of her robes before her eyes won the fight for dominance over her body. They glued themselves shut and she drifted into a sound sleep.


	5. Transfiguration

**A/N I'm having so much fun writing this story for you guys! I hope you're enjoying reading it just as much as I'm enjoying creating it.**

 **I read and bought Cursed Child on July 31, and it was absolutely everything I could have ever imagined it would be. It really is spectacular, and if you haven't read it yet I highly recommend that you do because I don't regret a thing. I went to the midnight launch at my local book store and finished reading it around 3:30 am that night/morning. I've never been too interested in next gen before this, but now I am so into it. And I've now added a new favourite character to my list: Scorpius Malfoy! (obvs)**

 **Without further ado, here's chapter five. As always, please leave any and all feedback you may have, I appreciate it all.**

 **And a big shout out to WeasleyIsMyKing540. She's a great writer on here and a great friend to me. If you like Romione, Drinny or both, then you should definitely check her stuff out!**

* * *

The days all seemed to blur into one for Ginny. It seemed that she had no sooner woken up after the first day than when her second week at Hogwarts rolled around. Her body ached with exhaustion unlike anything else she had experienced before. She noted that Hogwarts one hundred years ago was definitely a lot harder than in her own era.

She couldn't believe the amount of books and supplies the students had to carry around with them to all of the classes, and just how little break time they got compared to what she was used to. All of her muscles felt like they were going to break down and stop working, and her lower back was beginning to cause her a lot of pain.

Her morning routine turned into somewhat of a blur as well, and she could feel all enthusiasm she may have had about the mission disappearing slowly. She was emotionally and physically drained, and was already praying for the holidays to come around soon.

Ginny ignored the heaviness of her eyes and made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast, as per usual, and assumed her regular position with Draco and Blaise. There was little to no conversation as first, but Ginny found herself growing weary of the lack of contact after a while and instigated communication.

"I'm assuming that you guys are as exhausted as I am," Ginny mumbled.

She was met with a nod from Blaise, and a grunt of approval from Draco.

"I didn't think I'd get so worn out so quickly," she said.

"Well," Blaise said, "that's Hogwarts for you."

"Was Beauxbatons this tiring?" Draco asked.

"Oh, you're from Beauxbatons!" Blaise exclaimed.

"I always felt fine in that school," Ginny replied, laughing a bit. "What's first class?"

"Transfiguration with McGonagall," Blaise groaned.

"Oh, I quite like Transfig!" Ginny said. "First class of the year."

"That's right. The timetables are really odd this year. There's a lot more Defense Against the Dark Arts classes timetabled for us. Honestly, I kind of miss the old timetables. I like the variety," Blaise muttered. "However I must say, the thoughts of Transfiguration in general does not make me leap for joy in the slightest."

"I noticed that, alright," Draco replied. "Anyway, come on. We should get going."

The Slytherin trio abandoned the remains of their food and drink in the Great Hall and made their way to the other side of the castle grounds where their class was being held. The only one of the three who was actually looking forward to the class was Ginny. The other two didn't seem particularly amused that that was the class they had to face first thing in the morning.

Ginny hoped that a bit of Transfiguration would help to wake her up. She knew that she would be an awful mess if she had to continue through the rest of the day in the tired state she was in.

When they reached the class room, it was already filled with students, with very little tables remaining. One resided at the front left corner of the room, and the other halfway down the middle row. Ginny began to make her way over to the front, walking in the opposite direction to Blaise and Draco, until she felt a hand on her shoulder spin her around.

"Where are you going?" Draco asked.

"Oh, I assumed that you and Blaise would want to sit together, and seeing as though there's only two double tables left I thought I'd leave you guys to it," she replied, staring up at him somewhat timidly.

"Nonsense," Blaise replied. "We can't have the newbie sitting alone for her first Transfiguration class. Drake, be a darling and sit with Weasley."

Draco nodded and walked with Ginny to the table in the front row. The Gryffindors sat behind them immediately hushed when they noticed that Draco was heading in their direction. Ginny wasn't quite sure what the deal with that was but she let it slide from her thoughts.

"Thanks for sitting with me, Draco," Ginny said, giving the boy a smile.

Draco only shrugged in reply as he placed his things in front of him.

A short, slim woman walked into the room, donning a long cloak and hat. Her long fingers were wrapped delicately around the end of her wand, and she peered at the students in the room over her glasses. Her gaze lingered on Ginny as she hit the realisation that she hadn't met her before.

"Ah," she began, walking towards her. "You must be Miss Weasley."

"That's right," Ginny replied. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"I am Professor McGonagall. I shall be your Transfiguration teacher for the remainder of the academic year. I see you have chosen Mr Malfoy to be your partner for the class. Interesting decision."

McGonagall turned her attention away from Ginny and addressed the rest of the class. "The seats that you are sat in are going to be your permanent seats for the rest of the year, unless I see a reason as to why you should no longer sit there. So I hope you're comfortable where you're sat and who you're sat with."

Draco and Ginny simultaneously looked at each other and smiled.

"You're stuck with me," he whispered.

"Fine with me," she replied.

"Mr Malfoy, please, no talking. We don't want you being a bad influence to Miss Weasley."

"He's already being a bad influence on her, Miss!" Blaise shouted, laughing.

"Shut up, Blaise," Draco said, not bothering to look over his shoulder.

"That's enough. Mr Zabini, if you can't hold your tongue in my class I'm afraid you'll have to sit in detention with me today at lunch," McGonagall said. Stress and dismay filled the crease lines in her forehead. She turned on her heals and walked to the front of the room to begin the lesson.

"So, class. We're going somewhat back to basics for our first lesson back. I want to have your memories refreshed about everything you've learned over the past six years. We're going to be changing appearances. Minor things like eye colour and hair colour, before proceeding on full body transformations," she explained. "Mr Zabini, seeing as though you're sat alone, I request that you come up here and demonstrate for the class how to change eye colour."

Blaise stood up. He was evidently nervous. Ginny knew he wasn't the fondest of this class and was already dreading it enough without having to do a class demonstration by himself. But he managed to do it without fault; his regular brown eyes had gone, and had instead been replaced by a stunning dark green.

"Very good, Mr Zabini. Now, class, that you've had the demonstration, I'd like you all to try it. Hair or eyes, it's your decision."

Ginny and Draco turned to face each other once again and tried to copy what they had just seen. Ginny was successful in turning her hair various shades of the rainbow - Draco told her that she quite suited pink hair - but was struggling with the eyes. Draco on the other hand was not being as experimental as his partner.

"Oh dear Lord," Ginny whispered. "Please, Draco, never dye your hair brown."

"Is it that bad?" he replied, laughing.

"It really is."

"Yeah, I'd have to disagree with Weasley there," the Gryffindor boy behind them laughed. He seemed to have found some confidence within him, as the hesitance and nervousness Ginny had witnessed from him before had vanished.

"And why is that?" Draco replied.

"Because at least this way you don't resemble your bloody father."

Ginny noticed that these words seemed to strike a chord with Draco as he remained expressionless, quiet for a few moments, and was clenching his fists.

"You do not speak about my family, do you understand," Draco said in a low voice. It sounded scarily threatening, to the point that Ginny felt taken aback by it.

"Fuck off," she muttered to the Gryffindor.

She placed a hand on Draco's arm. He didn't look at her but she knew that the small gesture helped him a little bit because his clenching of his fists eased and he seemed to calm down a little bit.

Several minutes later a knock was heard at the door before a small first year girl entered the class room. She had a note in her hand, which she swiftly gave to Professor McGonagall before making her fast escape from the glaring eyes of the seventh years.

"Miss Weasley, Professor Snape wishes to speak to you," she announced.

Draco looked at Ginny confused. His eyes pleaded slightly with her not to go before he completely broke eye contact and brought his attention back to his book. Ginny packed away her things and left the room.

She assumed the Headmaster's office was in the same spot as she knew it to be, and decided to head there. She, of course, was correct and entered the room. It wasn't like anything she remembered it to be. The room was quite dark and dingy, and smelled as if it needed a good clean, which confused her because all of the surfaces and floors seemed spotless.

In the centre of the room, there was a desk where Snape was sitting. He had a mug of tea held in his hands. "Ah, Miss Weasley, do take a seat."

Snape gestured to a small chair situated directly in front of his work space. Hesitantly, she stepped forward, and sat down. Something about Severus Snape made her feel incredibly uncomfortable, and as he peered down at her, unease flowed through her veins at an alarming rate.

"Obviously, you haven't got a clue why I've called you out of class, but we have a lot of things we need to discuss," he stated.

Ginny nodded, not knowing whether or not she was meant to verbally reply to the things he was saying.

"Your mission. It's a highly unusual one, and being quite honest I wasn't so sure I believed it at first. But I gave myself some time to mull it over and came to the conclusion that I want to help you. I'm not expecting you to trust me, but even if you don't I'm still going to work behind the scenes."

"No, I do trust you," she said with a smile. "I've read all about you. You're hailed as a hero! I think you're extraordinary."

A small smile spread on Snape's face. It was evident to Ginny that he doesn't hear compliments that often with the way he reacted. It made Ginny feel better that her day involved making somebody feel good.

"Anyway, Miss Weasley. I doubt I need to explain to you how dangerous this mission could become," he said. His brows furrowed.

"I assumed it would be," she replied.

"You don't know what type of situation you're messing with. Voldemort is a very dangerous man, and Harry Potter is a skilled wizard."

"I'm skilled too, sir," she said.

"I don't doubt that. You'd have to be to be given this task. But I do have to ask. Why is it necessary?"

"I was told that there's a group of people, named the Enigmas, who are trying to re-establish Voldemort's reign or terror. They've had a following for a number of years since his death, but now they've reached an all time high in popularity. It's a really dangerous time, and a threat of violence is looming. Their main fixation is the fact that Voldemort was defeated by a teenager."

"So," Snape said, standing up. He began to pace around his room. "You're telling me that Harry needs to be stopped?"

"I think so."

"How unusual," Snape said.

"Sir, can I ask a question now?" Ginny said. Snape gave her the go-ahead. "How exactly am I supposed to stop Harry from killing Voldemort?"

"That's the problem isn't it. You see, nobody else would try to kill Voldemort. History is a funny thing. Rewriting the past can be deadly."

Ginny stared at him for several moments, silent.

"It's up to you," Snape replied. "It's a tricky situation."

"How am I supposed to carry out any plan anyway? Harry Potter isn't in the school any more. Nobody knows where he is! He's nowhere to be found. I can't exactly stop somebody who isn't even here," she muttered.

"He's not here, that's correct. Yet."

"Yet?" she asked.

"He'll be back. You just need to trust me."

"I don't know if I do now," she mumbled.

"You're not from this time, Miss Weasley. Re-writing history is a dangerous thing. You could get trapped here forever," Snape warned.

"I don't want to stay here forever," she said.

"Very well," Snape said. "You may go. Take your classes off for the rest of the day. You have double potions so you won't get in trouble, don't worry. Until next time, Miss Weasley."

"Thank you for you time," she replied, leaving the room.

Ginny didn't know how to comprehend anything that was said in that meeting. She couldn't kill somebody, it just wasn't in her nature. She knew she had to come up with an alternative plan.

'Maybe I could just stop him somehow,'she thought. She shook the thought away however, knowing that it would probably be easier said than done.

For now, however, all she needed to do was have a lie down. She needed to give some time to mull the information over, and deemed having a short nap the ideal way to carry out that action.

The common room was empty at that time, which Ginny was very thankful for because she didn't think she'd have been able to deal with people talking to her then. She was even more thankful that she hadn't run into Draco or Blaise, who inevitably would have bombarded her with questions about why she was taken out of class.

Her bed was delightfully inviting. Ginny wasted no time becoming acquainted with it once again, but her dreams were not pleasant.

 _A stone wall lined the edge of the courtyard. Fire was blazing over hill. Bodies were scatted across every floor of the surrounding area. Everything was still. Everything, however, was not silent, as ear-piercing screams flooded into her ears._

 _Her feet scraped across the ground, accompanied by the sound of metal scratching the stones below her. She fingers grasped the edge of the sword tightly, so tight that her knuckles were turning white._

 _And then a beam of light. Followed by another. Followed by a cackle. Followed by another beam of light._

 _The sword danced in swift movements deflecting the light away. One was missed, blasting it's way into her shoulder._

 _"That's the problem with muggle-lovers," a voice said, "They're always so foolish. You can't use your silly weapon to defeat me. You're over."_

Ginny woke up in a sweat, panting. She sat up immediately and got out of her bed. She didn't want to spend any more time in that room, and so left to go to the bathroom.

She washed the residue of the nightmare away from her face and stared at herself in the mirror. Dark circles were donned around her eyes and her lips were chapped and dry. She closed her eyes for several moments, dried her face, and left the Slytherin common room.

By the smell wafting from the Great Hall, she knew dinner was ready. She couldn't hide from Blaise and Draco's questions forever. She entered.


	6. Teaching Lessons

**A/N Something I find incredibly amusing about writing is that I know where the story is going and it's so cool to me hearing people saying what they think may happen. Love hearing it.**

 **As always, review if you'd like. I hope you enjoy.**

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Just like with the Slytherin common room, the Great Hall, for the most part, was quite empty, and Blaise and Draco were nowhere to be seen. On one hand, Ginny liked this because it meant she got a few minutes more of peace and quiet before the hustle and bustle of the Hogwarts population flooded into the room. On the other hand, Ginny didn't like this because it meant that she was left alone with her thoughts and that, at that moment, was a very scary thing to her.

Ginny's mind was plagued with thoughts as she tried to comprehend her meeting with Snape. She couldn't stop thinking about it, no matter how hard she tried. It was almost as if her brain was toying with her, allowing her only the slightest bit of leeway before pulling her directly back into her Harry-related thoughts. In that moment she could tell that the whole scenario was going to be very destructive for her, mentally and possibly physically.

She sighed and walked over to the Slytherin table. Food was laid out but Ginny ignored it, something that was very unlike her. She poured herself a glass of water and longed for Draco to get there. There was something about him that Ginny found utterly calming, and she knew that she needed that kind of person around right now. Even if she didn't tell him what was going on, she knew that he would still be able to make her feel miles better.

Her thoughts drifted to her Transfiguration class earlier. The look Draco had on his face after the Gryffindor make family comments broke her heart, even in memory form. She wasn't sure why there was a jab there at his father, but she knew, whatever the reason, that it had gotten to him.

She felt her curiosity growing but she came to the solid conclusion that she wasn't going to pry into it. She knew that if he wanted to talk about it, he would, and she shouldn't try to get any information out of him. Besides, she had only known him just over a week. She doubted they had a friendship with much trust, if any, at that time.

"There's the woman of the hour!"

She looked up as saw Blaise grinning. "Hey. Where's Draco?"

"I'm here," Draco replied, a couple of feet behind Blaise.

"Oh, I didn't see you," Ginny replied, laughing.

"So," Blaise said as he and Draco sat down.

"So?" Ginny asked.

"What did Snape want? He doesn't take just anybody out of class, never mind let them out of a double potions class!" Blaise exclaimed.

Ginny could tell he was in awe of her in that moment. If his grin was anything to go by, he was ecstatic. But she could tell there was a hint of jealousy there.

"Oh," she replied, "he's just checking up on me, isn't that sweet? He wanted to know how I was settling in."

"That's very out of character for him," Draco muttered, smirking.

"What can I say? I'm a very special witch."

"That you are," Blaise said, tipping his glass towards her.

"Get over yourself."

Ginny turned to look behind her and saw Maria, once again, smiling smugly down at her. She caught the attention of Draco and Blaise also, as they were now staring at Maria as well.

"What do you want?" Ginny mumbled.

"You're seriously deluded."

"Excuse me?"

Maria laughed. "I mean, it's hard to believe that Snape would actually care about you, isn't it? It's crazy. Crazy to believe that anybody would care about you."

"Aw, jealous cos I have some attention that you don't?" Ginny replied. She felt incredibly confused by the whole situation. She also wasn't quite sure when Maria had gotten there, or when she started listening into her conversation.

"As if. I'm more surprised, if I'm being totally honest, at Blaise and Draco. I mean, they must be out of their minds to associate with a Weasley. I don't even know what the world is coming to, but it's certainly gone down the drain. What a disgrace to Slytherin house they are. Heck, what a disgrace they are to the whole Wizarding World," Maria snarled.

Ginny was about to retort, more for the sake of Blaise and Draco than herself, but she felt Draco stand up behind her and instantly her attention was diverted to him. His stance was more stiff and structured than usual, and his face was holding the same expression as before. Instead of his hands being balled into fists, however, one was tightly gripping his wand, aiming at Maria.

"Draco..." Ginny said, reaching out a hand to him. "Sit down, Draco."

"Yeah, Malfoy, take a seat," Blaise said. His grin was gone.

"No," Draco replied.

"What do you think you're doing with that wand?" Maria asked. Ginny could tell that she was worrying, and Ginny knew she would be too if it was her on the other side of the wand.

Looking up at Draco, Ginny could tell her was a severe malice in his eyes, and a deep hurting. She didn't know whether it was Maria's comments that had gotten to him, or if it was something else, but she knew either way it wasn't good.

"Teaching you a lesson," he replied.

A light shot out of the end of his wand and hit Maria, who, for a few seconds, writhed in pain. Shock and agony covered her face before she was brought back to reality. Only the agony disappeared, and it was replaced by more shock than before.

"What the hell?!" she yelled.

Ginny stood up and placed a hand on Draco's back. The hall had turned silent; the kind of silent where it was deafening. All the attention from the students was placed firmly on the Slytherin confrontation. There were hushed voices heard on the other side of the room after several moments had passed.

The tension would have easily been cut with a knife. Neither party knew what the say or do. Ginny felt very cautious, not wanting to say or do anything that would cause more upset. Blaise stared on, dumbfounded at the situation. The boy who was usually difficult to make quiet was now at a loss for words.

Ginny decided she had had enough and sighed. She escorted Draco out of the Great Hall, rubbing up and down his arm with her free hand. His hand was still clenched around his wand.

"Draco, you hexed her?" Ginny said once they were away from the Great Hall.

"I couldn't deal with her saying those things to you," he admitted, looking away from Ginny.

"You can't just hex things you don't like," she replied.

"Well, I did."

"I know you did."

"Sorry."

"No. Thank you for doing that," Ginny whispered. "I know that was your way of showing your concern, so thank you. But please don't do that in future. You could have seriously hurt her! Or you could have gotten yourself hurt. You're so foolish."

"If she got what she deserved, I wouldn't have cared if I got hurt."

"My knight in shining armour," Ginny laughed, rolling her eyes. She realised that she was still gripping onto him and released him from her grasps. "Sorry."

"Don't be. You were quite comforting," he said, shrugging.

"You're gonna get in trouble now, aren't you?" Ginny mumbled. "All because of me."

"Nah, I won't get in trouble."

"How do you know?"

"That would be telling," he laughed.

"I feel really bad about all of that," Ginny said.

"Now who's the foolish one?" Draco smirked.

"Not me. You've already claimed that title. And quite rightly so, I think," she replied, giving the blond a wink.

"Cheeky."

"You know it."

"You know, Weasley. You're a lot of fun. If I was gonna get in trouble because of anybody, I'd prefer it was you because I wouldn't be able to get mad at a pretty face like that. I'll see you later."

Ginny only smiled in return. She didn't know what exactly he was on about, but something about what he said and the way he said it sent shivers through her. She turned around and walked. She didn't know where she was walking to, she was just walking to somewhere in hopes that she would find a destination.

She knew she wasn't going to head back to the common room any time soon because quite frankly she didn't have a death wish. Part of her considered going back to the Great Hall to retrieve Blaise but she didn't know if that was a good idea or not due to the fact that Maria could still be there, and there was no telling whether or not Blaise was still there. She decided against the Great Hall and instead wandered around the staircases.

By that point stories were circulating around the school, gaining Ginny numerous side-glances and full on death glares. As she walked past groups of girls and boys, she sometimes heard her name and Draco's name, and the odd mention of Maria. But it seemed more people were concerned about Ginny and Draco than they were about Maria. This revelation made a small part within Ginny leap. If she was going to be an association with anybody, she'd rather it was him over Maria.

Her thoughts drifted again; first to Harry, and slowly her mind switched focus to Draco. She had a strange feeling there might be an ulterior motive to his actions, but she shook this thought soon after, deeming it to be implausible.

"Hey, Weasley, wait up!"

Ginny stopped and turned around to see Blaise running after her. By the time he reached her, he was slightly out of breath.

"I thought people who played Quidditch were meant to be fit?" Ginny laughed.

"Well, it doesn't exactly require stamina, now, does it? You're just sitting there on a broom," he replied.

"That's very true."

"I wanted to talk to you, see how you were doing," he said.

"I'm doing fine. If anything I'm a little bit confused but overall I'm fairly content. Why, do you ask?"

"Honestly, I'm concerned about Draco. I haven't seen him get like that for a while now," Blaise muttered.

"I don't really know what happened there. Did Maria really annoy him that much? I mean, he was fine when I was talking to him a little while ago. Quite perky, given the circumstances."

"Could be an act. However, I think you're a good influence on him."

"I don't think I could be classed as a good influence, Blaise," Ginny said, "I mean, after all, he did just hex a girl because of me. That, in most peoples' books, would be the complete opposite of a good influence!"

"Well, I think you both influence each other in your own weird ways. But I was wondering, did anything happen today? He seemed a little bit on edge since you left class," Blaise replied.

"Oh," Ginny said, thinking back to the Transfiguration class she had been taken out of. "This one Gryffindor was being a bit of a tool."

"Who?"

"I don't know his name. He's lanky. Anyway, he made some comment to Draco during the whole 'changing our appearances' thing about how he should stick to brown hair because that way he doesn't look like his dad."

Blaise stiffened slightly at the story. "Oh. That makes a lot more sense."

"Blaise?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering, and feel free not to answer me because I know it's not really my place or whatever, but why would it be a bad thing if Draco resembles his father?" Ginny asked.

"Many see it as bad because he's a Malfoy," Blaise said.

"And?"

"His father is Lucius Malfoy."

Ginny wasn't sure how she hadn't pieced that together earlier. She knew the name Malfoy was familiar to her, but she didn't realise why.

"Death Eater," she said.

"Excuse me?" Blaise replied, taken aback.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was thinking out loud. I'll talk to you later, Blaise!" Ginny said, trying to quickly end the conversation. She knew she had crossed a line.

"Weasley, don't talk to Drake about this."

Ginny nodded and she turned on her heels. Suddenly, the common room was looking a lot nicer to her, and she decided that was where she was headed.

 **. . .**

Once in the common room again, she was greeted by silence, but not uncomfortable silence. People stared at her momentarily before carrying on with their own conversations. Many seemed to have forgotten the whole debacle from dinner time.

Ginny noticed a lack of Maria.

She also noticed Draco sat at a table with a brunette lurched over his shoulder. She heard murmurings from the girl and caught the unamused face of Draco staring straight ahead.

"You're bloody brilliant, Draco," the girl whispered. "It's about time Ahern was put in her place."

"Yeah, whatever," Draco replied. His gaze wandered towards Ginny and he shrugged the girl off his shoulders. "Piss off, would you."

Ginny laughed and made her way over to him. She sat in the seat opposite and gave him a smile. "Looks like you've got a fan."

"I could say the same for you," he replied, "because from the sounds of things everybody is talking about you. And staring at you."

"Kind of like you right now then, eh?"

"Kind of like me right now."

"Aw, so you're saying you're a fan of me then, are you?" Ginny teased.

"I enjoy your company, yes," he replied, nonchalantly.

"Cool beans."

"Cool beans? What fucking era are you from?" Draco laughed.

Ginny giggled. "It's a perfectly legitimate saying!"

"Of course, my dear."

"Shove off. Just because you possess the vocabulary and character of a plank of wood."

"I wholeheartedly reject that, Ginny Weasley. I'll have you know I'm a very interesting person and highly intelligent."

"Intelligence has nothing to do with how many words you know, Malfoy," Ginny sighed.

"Either way, I'm intelligent. Too intelligent for this place."

"You're so humble," she murmured.

"Cheers."


	7. Hogsmede

**A/N Happy New Year!**

 **So I'm really sorry it's been so long since I lasted updated. Lots of stuff came up, but I'm re-dedicating myself to writing Birth Of A Star. Thank you for your support. x**

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The air had grown significantly colder in the past week, and so all the students had begun to layer up again in their respective house scarves and hats. The halls were now a sea of colour, instead of a dark cloud of grey, and Ginny in particular enjoyed this. She much preferred the colder seasons of the year as opposed to the warm seasons. She liked all the typical things associated with autumn and winter, and, like most people, was looking forward to Halloween.

It wasn't too long to go now until the holiday was upon them all; it was only ten days away, and the festive feeling was flooded throughout the school, even from the students who didn't ever care about celebrating the day. The atmosphere was strange, very different to the usual; it was a lot more cheerful. Ginny assumed that the school population had put on hold any rivalries or feuds they had going on and were just focusing on the goodness because she hadn't heard of there being any conflicts or fighting for about a week or so now, and it was definitely something she could get used to.

"Hey, Gin," Draco said, sneaking up behind the redhead.

Ginny must have been totally lost in thought because it took her several moments to realise that she was being spoken to. She turned her attention to the blond walking beside her and smiled. "Oh, good morning, Draco!" she replied.

"You seem a little out of it today," Draco teased.

"Just thinking," she replied, "all this Halloween stuff is getting me excited, but also thinky."

"I'll keep a note of that."

"Sure thing," Ginny laughed.

"So, speaking of Halloween. Do you have any plans for it? I mean, it's only a few days away now."

"I haven't got a clue. I'll probably find something to do. What are you and Blaise doing?"

"Probably just hanging out," Draco said, shrugging.

"I'll intrude your plans," Ginny said.

"I'd gladly have you intrude," Draco said, extending a smile to his companion.

"Good because you don't really have a choice, blondie."

"Blondie?"

"Blondie."

"Whatever," Draco laughed. "There's a few carriages heading down to Hogsmede today actually, Gin. Shall we go?"

"What about permission slips? Haven't heard of impromptu Hogsmede trips before."

"Today's a weird exception. I think even Dumbledore is high on holiday spirit. Won't last though. We have to grasp the opportunity as it's handed to us, Weasley."

"Let's go then," Ginny said.

The two of them walked in unison towards the edge of the castle grounds where the carriages were assembled in two straight lines. Students were piling into one, but Draco spotted one that had not yet been infiltrated with other students and he led Ginny towards it. He held out his hand to help Ginny climb on board, and then followed in suit, taking the seat beside her.

Draco decided that one of the perks of being a Malfoy who scared people away was that it meant that he got a bit of peace and quiet sometimes. But Draco was more than happy to share his peace and quiet with Ginny. There was agreement between the pair that having nobody else in the carriage with them was a good thing.

They filled the time with small talk and random chatter, and before long they reached the carriage parking in the middle of the town. Students had already crowded to cobbled streets which meant soon they would be found in every nook and cranny of the place. Draco sighed.

Ginny stepped off the carriage, with the support of Draco, and stared in awe at the decorations that were dressing the shops and light posts. The street lighting illuminated their respective areas orange and green, and cobwebs hung from the corners of every building. One of the things that the wizarding world did very well was festivities.

She looked down at the wrist and read the time off her watch. It was approaching noon Ginny could have probably told the time without looking at her clock because her stomach began to gargle, indicating that it was a meal time. She looked up at Draco and laughed.

"You sound hungry," he said, smirking.

"A bit. I've trained my body."

"You've trained it?"

"I eat at very specific points throughout the day."

"Yeah, Gin, we all do. It's what happens when you go to boarding school," Draco chuckled.

"Ah but that's where everybody else falls down! They don't carry snacks around with them all the time."

"I was wondering why your bag was always crunching."

"Well now you know," Ginny said, copying Draco's smirk.

"You're just full of enlightening information as usual," he laughed.

"You love it."

"I surely do. Do you want to get some food?"

"Only if you're paying," Ginny said, half-joking.

"Of course. What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't pay for your meal?" he replied.

"Not a very gentle one," Ginny said.

"That's right."

Draco led the way down the streets, weaving in and out of gatherings of students in their year and in the year below them. They got themselves a few weird looks, but for the most part they seemed to disappear into the crowd. Well, as much as a girl with bright red hair and a boy with an ego the size of a continent can. Despite Ginny's persistent asking, Draco wouldn't tell her where he was taking her. So, Ginny just followed in helplessness, watching him with careful eyes.

Her feet began to ache after a while of walking. She was certain they had spent half a day walking to the restaurant, however when she checked her watch she realised only ten minutes had gone by. She groaned in displeasure.

"How much longer, Draco?" she whined.

"Calm down, Weasley. Just around the corner."

"I swear that better be accurate or I'll give you a hex and it won't be a delicate one like the one you gave Maria."

"Delicate?"

"Compared to me, anything is delicate."

"You could say that alright," Draco muttered, turning back momentarily to steal and swift glance at the red head.

"No but seriously, if we don't turn this corner and end up at the restaurant door I will be angry with you, Draco Malfoy," Ginny said, laughing. However, malice could be heard through the laughter and it somewhat excited Draco.

"A gentleman never lies," he replied. He grasped at Ginny's hand and pulled her closer to him, moving her forward so she was situated more at his side as opposed to her being behind him.

They turned the corner and Ginny looked at her surroundings in hope of seeing somewhere to eat. But before she could see a restaurant, the smell of food wafted into her nostrils and excitement filled her.

"What did I say, Weasley?" Draco grinned. "You ought to trust me."

"I do now," Ginny said.

"Great. After you," he said, opening the door for Ginny to allow her to walk in first. He followed.

Ginny looked around her. It was a lot fancier than she had been expecting. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling sporadically. The tables were covered with simple, white table cloths that had been ironed to perfection and draped beautifully over the edge of the surface like water rippling over the edge of a waterfall in perfect symmetry. A small tealight candle was lit and placed in a glass container in the middle of each of the tables, and the cutlery and chinaware was most stunning to Ginny.

"Like it?"

"If the food is anything like the décor, I think I'm going to love this place," Ginny said, taking in her surroundings in great detail, creating a mental picture of every inch of the room to look back on later in the day.

Ginny followed Draco as he led her to a table in a secluded corner in the back of the restaurant.

"I find it's always best to stay out of the way of others in places like this," he revealed as he pulled out a chair for Ginny to sit on.

Ginny smiled courteously at him and sat down. "Why's that?"

"You never know who's there listening."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"For somebody like me it is," he said, avoiding her gaze.

"Somebody like you?"

"That's a story for another time," he said, pouring them both a glass of water from the jug on the table.

A waitress came to take their orders, and soon enough they were indulging themselves in a meal fit for royalty. Ginny didn't know whether to rush it down because it was that delicious or to savour every bite as if it was her last, because it more than likely would be her last time eating there. She sighed.

After an hour or so, Ginny and Draco had finished their meal and had partaken in more small talk. Ginny felt herself becoming exhausted with the amount of times Draco had asked how she was that day, but part of her was happy that he was showing an interest in her and cared enough to ask her, even if the amount of times he'd asked was quite excessive.

Draco insisted on paying for both of them and pushed Ginny's purse aside when she was being stubborn.

"Thanks for that," Ginny said, smiling at Draco when they left the restaurant.

"Don't worry about it. You look like you enjoyed it."

"Oh, I did!" she exclaimed, and then Ginny went off on a tangent of vivid descriptions of the smell and taste of the food she had just eaten, while Draco chuckled by her side as they walked back down towards where the rest of the students were hovering.

"Where would you like to go?" Ginny asked.

"I'm here quite a lot, so it's really up to you. We can go to Honeydukes?" he suggested in reply.

"Sure!" she said with enthusiasm. She was having a good day, and Draco was in a good mood so she was going to try and take advantage of it as much as she could. "And then maybe we can go and look at clothes after?"

"Don't push it, Weasley."

"Fine."

Ginny pushed open the small door leading to the sweet shop and kept it held open so Draco could walk through too. This Honeydukes was a lot different to the Honeydukes she was used to. Her Honeydukes was brightly coloured with an uncountable amount of sweets lined up neatly on all sides of the shop in dazzling golden jars. This Honeydukes was slightly dark inside, but the sweets popped out on the shelves because of this. She was in awe despite the difference. Sweets always made her feel good.

"You going to look around or buy something? Or are you just going to daydream forevermore?" Draco said, teasing the girl. He poked her arm and laughed.

"Sorry. Thinky."

"I know."

"Hey, what's that?" Ginny said, grabbing Draco's hand and pulling him over to a strange box.

"You haven't seen these before?" he asked.

"I haven't. What is it?"

"It's just a collection of all the best sellers. It's what I always go for if I'm buying because I can never make up my mind."

Ginny shrugged. "That's what I'll do then."

She picked up a box and brought it over to the cashier to buy it.

"Allow me," Draco said, handing over some change to the lady behind the till.

Ginny glared.

"Your boyfriend is quite the gentleman, Miss," the cashier said, obviously doting over Draco.

Ginny and Draco both laughed awkwardly and, without saying a word, turned and walked away.

"Your boyfriend is quite a gentleman, Weasley," Draco said.

"Shush it, you," Ginny replied.

"You only wish you could get on this."

"Cocky."

"You bet."

Ginny smirked at him.

…

Several hours past and soon they found themselves back at Hogwarts.

The pair made their way to the door of the Slytherin common room, and an awkward silence fell between them Neither of them seemed sure of what to do, and both knew that they were reading way too much into it all. A few shy chuckles and smiles were shared until Ginny broke the silence.

"I had a really nice time with you today, Draco," she said.

"I did with you also," he replied. Draco wasn't sure what proper protocol was for this situation, and so he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, I suppose."

"Okay, good night, Ginny," Draco said.

He turned on his heels and walked to his dormitory and saw Blaise sprawled out on his bed with a smirk on his face. Upon hearing the creaking of the door, he immediately jumped up from his bed and stood at the foot of it.

"There's the very person I've been waiting to talk to all day but he blew me off for some ginger," Blaise teased, his head cocked to one side as he laughed.

Draco only glared at him in return as he made his way over.

"Ah now, there's no need for your grumpy face."

"Shove off, Zabini. I was in a great mood til I saw you."

"Have a nice date then I take it?"

"It wasn't a date."

"It was definitely a date," Blaise insisted.

"How would you know, you weren't even there," Draco said, tired of the back and forth between himself and his companion.

"I can just tell. You have a glow about you."

"Oh, do I now?" Draco said, giving a small chuckle.

"See, that girl's even got you laughing! Man, I hate to break the news to you, but I think you like her."

"Excuse me?"

"Little Drake has a crush on our dear Ginny Weasley, doesn't he?"

Draco shrugged and continued chuckling. "Night, Zabini."

"See you in the morning, lover boy."

Draco got changed into his nightwear and climbed into bed. He wrapped the duvet around him and laid on his side so he was facing a wall instead of his companion. He knew he'd never get to have a good think if he had to face his friend. All that he would think of if that was the case were the many ways he wanted to kill him.

But instead of his mind being filled with thoughts of the harming of his friend, it was instead plagued with the face of Ginny, and that was what he fell asleep to.


	8. Aftermath

**A/N I am so sorry for the absence. I've been trying to upload to FFN for weeks now and I don't know what has been going on. But I think I've finally sorted everything out so here, without further ado, is the next chapter of Birth Of A Star.**

 **Many thanks to people who have stuck by me the last year of writing this, particularly WeasleyIsMyKing540 who has always encouraged me.**

Ginny tried to tread quietly through the girls' dormitory. She knew she didn't particularly need to be quiet, as the girls always stayed up late gossiping and giggling, but nonetheless she didn't want to cause a scene or anything of the likes, especially with who her dorm-mates were. She didn't want to stir unnecessary attention.

Of course, in an ideal world this wouldn't be the case; however this was the un-ideal world for Ginny so naturally there would be somebody there to ruin her plan.

"Where have you been til now, Weasley?"

Ginny sighed, recognising the voice immediately. "You're a little obsessed, aren't you, Maria?"

The blonde scoffed. "With you? Don't make me laugh. It just seems a bit sketchy to be falling into bed at this hour."

"At this hour? Jeez, you sound like my mother," Ginny said. She felt her heart twang a bit as her mother's face came into her mind.

"Whatever," Maria said, turning her back to Ginny, "I'll find out eventually."

"Obsessed," Ginny smirked, as she picked up her pyjamas and went into the bathroom.

She inspected herself in the bathroom mirrors and a small but noticeable smile crept onto her face, illuminating her features. She was quite pleased with how she looked, and even more pleased when she realised that was how she looked all day.

 _Lucky Draco,_ she thought, chuckling a bit to herself. She noted not to chuckle too much or she definitely would draw unnecessary attention to herself. But she also couldn't help that she was feeling pretty confident.

She got changed into her pyjamas, brushed her teeth and hair, washed her face, and made her way back to her bedroom. She got into bed and cocooned herself in her duvet.

She dreamt of Draco.

 **. . .**

The next morning Ginny woke up feeling completely refreshed. She couldn't remember the last time she had had a sleep that great and had gone through the whole night without waking up. She slept so soundly she was convinced somebody had charmed her during the night, but even if that had happened she didn't mind because the mood she was in caused any worry or fret she may have had to float away.

One of the girls she shared the bedroom with walked in through the door and glanced at Ginny. She smirked a little bit, let out a small giggle, and carried on with her business. Ginny thought this was a little bit weird but thought nothing of it.

She brought herself to the bathroom and got herself ready for the day. It seemed like her happy glow had remained as she looked as nice as she had done the previous night. She smiled and got herself into her clothes. She quickly walked back to her room, grabbed her bag and shoved a couple of text books in, and left the girls' wing of the Slytherin dormitories.

As Ginny walked down the stairs, she noticed the room hush a little bit. Not entirely, but enough that the atmosphere slightly changed. In the corner, Ginny noticed, stood a seemingly-enraged Maria. Ginny also noticed that with every step she took down the stairs, Maria took one towards her.

"So that's why you were gone so long last night, eh?" she shouted.

"Excuse me," Ginny replied, confused.

"Don't play dumb with me, Weasley, I am not in the mood today."

"You're still obsessed I see."

"You only wish," Maria smirked.

"Funny, don't remember ever wanting that," Ginny laughed.

"What makes you think you're good enough for Draco then?"

"Is somebody jealous?" Ginny said, a mischievous glint appearing in her eyes.

"Of you? Let's be real. Nobody would ever be jealous of a filthy blood-traitor like you. You are pretty much the scum of the wizarding world so let's not get too cocky now, shall we?" Maria spat. "I would honestly be more jealous of the gum on the pavement than I would be of you."

"Then why are you going on about something to do with me then?" Ginny asked.

"I'm just a bit disgusted, to be frank."

"Why?"

"Draco's standards have really lowered. He shouldn't be going for girls like you. He needs a woman."

"And what makes you think you're better than Ginny then, Maria?" a voice called from the top of the stairs.

Blaise was spotted strutting down the stairs, with a seething Draco Malfoy following behind him.

"Go on then, you bint, what's so special about you?"

"I'm not a blood-traitor," Maria replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're too full of yourself for your own good," he replied, laughing in her face. He diverted his attention to the dozens upon dozens pairs of eyes staring at the four of them. "Show's over, folks, I'm taking the lady away."

Blaise linked arms with Ginny and pulled her away from the crowd.

"You shouldn't be dating her, Draco!" Maria called after them.

"We're not!" Ginny shouted, trying to march back over to her but Blaise's grip was too strong.

"There's no use denying it," a girl whispered beside Ginny when they got to the door. Ginny studied the girl for a moment or two and saw no malice or nastiness present. Instead, the girl just smiled and stuck her nose back into her book.

The trio stepped through the door to the common room and allowed it to shut behind them before any of them spoke. Blaise was the one to break the short silence.

"So, looks like you were under some fire there, Weasley," he laughed.

"That's certainly one way to put it," Ginny replied, sighing. "I don't understand what her problem is."

"Neither do I," Blaise replied.

Both Ginny and Blaise directed their attention to Draco, who was stood as still as a statue and was as quiet as a church-mouse. He was being uncharacteristically quiet and moody, and this irritated Ginny to no end.

"Do you not have anything to say, Malfoy?" she asked.

"Oh last name, someone's mad," he replied.

"At least we know he's not gone mute," Blaise said, trying to diffuse the tension that was currently rising between the two.

"I'm not mad, I'm just annoyed," she replied.

"Why though?" Draco said.

"You're a bit of a prat."

"What did I do?" he shouted in defence.

"Save it."

"Look, I'm sorry for taking you out yesterday. I wouldn't have done it if I knew it would cause you to be like this. Sorry for trying to be nice," he said.

"Draco, no, I'm sorry," she replied.

Blaise hung back from conversation. He thought it would be best if the pair of them talked about this by themselves without him butting into it. He felt it was none of his business, even though it was his two best friends.

"No, you don't have to be sorry. I didn't realise it was a date, okay. I didn't. But I had a damn good time with you yesterday and it's been really confusing me. And then there was that scene this morning and it's a bit overwhelming, you know?"

"At least you weren't involved in it," she replied.

"Of course I was," Draco replied in a quiet voice. "It was a direct cause of me and you know it. And for that I am sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry," Ginny said. She reached out from Draco's hand and held his in her own. "I had a really nice time yesterday too. Don't worry about all that stuff from earlier, it doesn't matter."

"But you're upset."

Ginny paused for a moment. "I'm not upset."

"Really?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Upset is the wrong word," she replied. "I'm just a bit frustrated with Maria."

"Well, what's new?" Blaise laughed, butting into the conversation. "I think everyone is frustrated with Maria, herself included."

The three of them laughed. They began to walk towards the Great Hall.

In a voice he was hoping only Ginny would hear, Draco said, "You are good enough for me to date, by the way."

Nothing more was said.


	9. Breakfast Gossip

**A/N: I'm really trying to get back into the swing of regular posting.**

 **Thank you to all the messages of support, thank you to new followers and favourites! I hope I continue to live up to your expectations.**

 **Please leave me a review to let me know what you think of this chapter! Have a great day everybody x**

* * *

Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, until the day before Halloween came upon them. The leaves had almost entirely fallen off the trees, and grass was crisp in the mornings.

Ginny enjoyed this time of year. She liked being able to cosy up near the fire, she liked wearing scarves and hats, and she always looked forward to being able to layer her clothes. She found some comfort in this.

She was walking through the courtyard, having woken up especially early in order to fit a walk around the grounds into her morning routine before heading to get some breakfast. It gave her a good opportunity to think. She'd been doing a lot of thinking lately, and Ginny hazarded a guess that 99 percent of the time, her thought pattern included Draco.

Since their Hogsmede date, the amount of time they spent together was the same, but there was an air of uncertainty and slight awkwardness. But it seemed like neither of them would admit to this. It also seemed that neither of them were willing to take the first step to putting the awkwardness aside. Ginny had been thinking about it a lot.

She thought a lot about the memories they'd shared together. She thought a lot about his laugh and the way his mouth would curl upwards when he found something amusing. She thought about the two lines that would appear between his brow when he was stressed or annoyed. She also thought about how expressionless he could be sometimes. This last one always unnerved Ginny because this made him totally unreadable.

But she also thought a lot about his eyes.

And his lips.

And how she wanted to kiss him.

She shook her head and made her way inside.

Ginny walked into the Great Hall. She took a seat around the middle of the Slytherin table and took a bite of some toast lying in front of her. All of the girls around her were in an almost frenzy-like state. She almost forgot why until she heard one of the girls squeal about Halloween.

It was only one day until Halloween. This meant it was only one day until the 6th and 7th years would have their Halloween party.

It had been decided that the senior students in the school had earned enough brownie points with the staff of Hogwarts to be allowed to have an unsupervised party in the Great Hall to celebrate the holiday.

Ginny didn't know if she was going to go to the party. She wasn't really one for parties. She usually found them crowded and too warm. She didn't know if Blaise and Draco were going either. None of them had mentioned it at all. Ginny assumed this meant that they weren't going to go.

Just as she was thinking about them, she saw them stroll into the Great Hall. She saw Blaise whisper something to Draco before stopping to talk to a girl at the top of the table, leaving Draco to walk to Ginny by himself.

She smiled at him as he approached. "Morning."

"How are you always awake and down here before I am?" he smirked, picking up a glass of juice from the table.

"I like mornings, I suppose, "she said in reply. "Sleep well?"

"When do I ever sleep well, Gin?" he laughed.

He had a point. He always looked knackered, and judging from his under eyes, it had been a while since he got a good night's rest.

"I mean, I suppose," she said.

"What about you?"

"I slept quite well last night actually. Had a bit of a weird dream though."

"Tell me more," Draco said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," she began, hesitating a bit. "It was about our Hogsmede date." She stumbled over the word date. They hadn't spoken about it since Maria gave out to Ginny about it.

"So, not a nightmare then?"

"Definitely not. It was a nice dream."

"So you dreamt about me?" Draco chuckled.

"I think saying that I dreamt about you is a bit too much of an ego boost for you. Let's just say that you made a cameo appearance," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him.

"You're so juvenile, Weasley."

"Bite me," she said.

"That's a bit kinky," he winked.

Before she could retaliate, Blaise walked over with a grin plastered across his face.

"She said yes?" Draco asked.

"Who said yes to what?" Ginny chirped.

"She said yes," Blaise confirmed. "And that is none of your business."

Ginny pouted. "Aw."

"Only kidding, Red. Just asked a girl to go to the party with me tomorrow as my date," Blaise said, smugly.

Blaise over-emphasised the word "date", hoping it would elicit a reaction from Draco or Ginny. It didn't.

"Aw, that's lovely. I don't think I'm going," Ginny said.

"You're going with Draco though?" Blaise said.

Draco elbowed Blaise.

"Ow!" Blaise cried. "What did I do?"

"I can't exactly go to a party with Draco if Draco has not asked me to the party and I have not asked him," Ginny laughed.

"Well this git has ruined the surprise, I was going to ask you, Ginny," Draco said.

"I thought you already asked her, you told me you're going together?" Blaise was now very confused.

Ginny was confused too.

Draco wasn't confused. Draco was flustered.

"Thanks," Draco muttered.

"Yes," Ginny said.

Blaise and Draco looked at her. "Yes?" they said in unison.

"Yes. I will go with you," she replied, keeping eye contact with Draco.

"I know," Draco smirked.

"Oh, shove off," she laughed.

"Aw, look at the two love-birds," Blaise smiled.

"You shove off too," Ginny said.

"Damn, kitty got claws," Blaise laughed.

Ginny smirked at him.

. . .

Breakfast was soon over, and Ginny excused herself from the table. She walked briskly through the crowd of people beginning to emerge in the corridor.

She made her way to the Slytherin dungeons, which were almost totally deserted by this point. She didn't have class in the morning that day, so she took the opportunity to have a quick post-breakfast nap.

She walked down the stairs to the girl's side of the dorms and opened the door to her room. Her eye caught sight of a box lying on the bed. On top of the lid, there lay a note on a small piece of parchment. The only thing written on it was "-D." It didn't take a mastermind to figure out who it was from.

Curiosity got to her and she excitedly pulled the lid off the box and her eyes lit up when she saw what was inside. She pulled out the most beautiful piece of clothing she had ever seen in her life.

Her hands caressed the satin skirt of the dress, and she smiled down at the dusty lilac garment. The neckline was a sweetheart design, donning hundreds of tiny sequins on the bodice.

If there was one thing Draco was good at, it was choosing dresses,

Ginny couldn't help but wonder how he knew she would say yes to him. And even more curious to her was the fact that he was so confident she would say yes, that he would purchase a dress for her and somehow get it to her bedroom.

She brushed away these thoughts and just grinned. And then her heart sank slightly, she was getting attached. Very attached. Very quickly.

. . .

On the other side of the castle, Blaise and Draco were walking to their classroom side by side.

"You are some man," Blaise said.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Draco smirked. "You almost ruined the whole thing."

"Hey, I assumed since you told me you guys were going together that you had, I don't know, actually bloody asked the girl!"

"I didn't need to ask, I already knew she'd go with me."

"And if she'd said no?" Blaise questioned.

"Which she wouldn't have."

"You're too cocky, Draco."

"Better to be a cocky bastard than be insecure," he replied.

"Or you could have balance."

"I'm a Malfoy, Blaise, there is no balance," he said, a hint of sadness glazing momentarily over his eyes.

"I suppose."

The rest of their short journey to their class was done in silence.


End file.
